This afternoon I am going to Safeway to shop for the ingredients for our Thanksgiving feast.  We are going today for two reasons. Number 1, it takes about a week in the refridgerator to defrost a turkey of the size that I hope to find, around 20 pounds. And number 2, my daughter Elmo, goes to college every day and also has a job at a local motel front desk, so we have to work around these things in order to fit in the regular, Living Life stuff in.

For the last week or so, we have been making our "hopefully very complete list".  This list is important since there will be no time to send someone for a forgotten ingredient and it is a waste of gas forget a crucial part of the feast. We also made sure to include the everyday groceries because we have to eat before and after the feast and while I absolutely love leftover turkey dishes, I am here to tell you that you can get sick of turkey!

I have to say that shopping for anything during the Holiday season is a challenge. It seems like everyone is not only in a huge hurry, they are also angry that everything costs so much and many have little or no patience. Add a person in a wheelchair into the mix and, well, lets just say that the potential for unpleasantness exists. Some day I would love to wear a helmet cam to show people what it is like to be in my line of sight, but I digress. The important thing is to keep your own attitude uplifted. Nothing defuses a situation faster then a pleasant attitude, even if you don't really feel pleasant, stay polite. I focus on the glorious feast that will be shared with my family, imagine that wonderful smell of roasting turkey that will fill your home for hours, watching the parade with my grandchildren, and digging through the newspaper for the black friday deals. Puts me in a good mood just thinking about it. I have to admit that a small part of me wants to put a battering ram on my footrests and an electrified force field to keep folks from bashing into my back and mashing my knuckles, scraping by.
Okay, my evil twin just wrote that last sentance and she is snickering a bit at the image of grouchy shoppers being zapped by a force field then bunted out of the way. I rarely let her out but feeling this way is very normal and it is important that you know they are valid feelings and just because you feel badly, doesn't mean you should act badly.

When you shop this year, think of yourself as an ambassador for all the physically impaired people who will shop after you. When you live with grace, your inner peace increases and when you have inner peace, life is good no matter what abilities you have. So gird your loins, paste that smile on your face, and go out and "GET THAT BIRD!"

Whats for Dinner?  Fast food! I don't care what it is as long as I don't have to cook after braving the supermarket!